Terri Lipman, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, a clinical nurse scientist, is the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Nursing of Children in the School of Nursing, a faculty member in the Center for Health Equity Research, associated faculty in the Center for Public Health Initiatives and a Distinguished Fellow of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Dr. Lipman is the Associate Program Director of the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program and a nurse practitioner in the division of endocrinology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Lipman received her BSN from Temple University and her MSN and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lipman leads a program of research related to children with endocrine disorders and has published more than100 journal articles, book chapters and monographs. She has lectured widely both nationally and internationally, most recently at the International Congress of Endocrinology in Florence, Italy and as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Sao Paulo. She has received numerous honors and awards including being the inaugural recipient of the Norma M. Lang Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice and Policy, the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Excellence in Nursing Research Award from the Society of Pediatric Nurses and Carolyn J. Langstadter Mentorship Award from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Lipman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

TeachingThe foundational course of the Nursing of Children Programs is N721- Pediatric Physical Assessment and Clinical Decision Making that is coordinated by Dr. Lipman. This is the first clinical course for the graduate students. “Although the students in our programs are prepared to care for acute, chronically and critically ill children, it is essential to know normal assessment in order to identify the abnormal. The clinical decision making skills learned in this course will be the basis for the practice of students throughout their careers." Dr. Lipman is firmly committed to the need for community engagement for her nurse practitioner students. Her students received a Mayoral Proclamation and Citations from Philadelphia City Council for their service to the community.

ResearchDr. Lipman’s research stems from issues arising from her clinical practice. Her major areas of research are the epidemiology of diabetes in children, pediatric growth disorders, and racial disparities in children with endocrine disorders. Since 1990, Dr. Lipman has maintained the Philadelphia Pediatric Diabetes Registry - a participating center in the World Health Organization Multinational Project for Childhood Diabetes- the DIAMOND (Diabetes Mondiale) Project, a consortium of 150 centers in 70 countries. It is the only such US registry still active. Recent data have demonstrated a 70% increase in type1 diabetes in children younger than age 5 yr in Philadelphia. Her multicenter study on the accuracy of growth assessment received widespread coverage in the press including the New York Times, the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Lipman is also deeply committed to community based participatory research. Dance for Health- a collaborative study with an inner city high school- has provided increased activity and demonstrated improved fitness in hundreds of community members. In the policy arena, Dr. Lipman was one of 200 stakeholders who authored the Pennsylvania Diabetes Action Plan- a key document in the Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative and she has chaired the Diabetes Surveillance Committee for the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lipman’s Linear Growth Assessment Program has been cited as an Edge Runner Program by the American Academy of Nursing and is being utilized in 65 cities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Australia.

Clinical PracticeDr. Lipman is a pediatric nurse practitioner, and is a member of the executive team, in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where she maintains a clinical practice for children with diabetes and endocrine disorders and mentors the scholarship of the advanced practice nurses and the endocrine fellows in the Division. She leads the exploration racial disparities in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of children with endocrine disorders. She also guides the study of clinical questions from the evidence based practice initiatives related to the complications and co-morbidities of children with diabetes. Questions from Dr. Lipman’s clinical practice guide her research and her teaching. By precepting students at her clinical practice, students learn by example. Dr. Lipman demonstrates what she continually emphasizes in the classroom; the importance of assessing the entire child when formulating clinical decisions.

Pediatric endocrine issues are in the forefront of public health concerns. Diabetes in children has reached epidemic proportions. Pediatric growth disorders are poorly identified because of inaccurate linear measurement. These concerns are critical for all who care for children.